Energy efficiency gets green light

The property industry has welcomed the Prime Minister’s Task Group on Energy Efficiency report, which recommends the nation improve energy efficiency by 30 per cent by 2020.

With the built environment estimated to contribute about 23 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions nationally, setting a target was a step in the right direction, Property Council of Australia chief executive
Peter Verwer
said.

The property sector has about 50 different programs for energy efficiency, he said. “What we’ve been saying is let’s get all these policies to talk to each other, and the best way to do that is to have a target.

“The real challenge now is to make sure the objective on carbon abatement, the objective on energy efficiency and the objective on renewables talk to each other. At the moment it’s not clear how they join together."

He said another big positive from the report was the recommendation of an “energy efficiency obligation" or “white certificates", that is, an energy efficiency trading scheme.

At present, NSW, Victoria and South Australia have legislated energy efficiency obligations but the taskforce suggests the federal government could set up a scheme by mid-2012.

“It’s placing an obligation on the retailers of energy to encourage their customers to be more energy efficient," Mr Verwer said.

Green Building Council of Aust­ralia chief executive Romilly Madew said the report was “a vital step on the road to a greener built environment".

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“Energy efficiency schemes and technologies are readily available now – they don’t have to be expensive to implement, and they’re not complicated to understand," Ms Madew said.

The GBCA is pleased with the current discussions about a price on carbon.

“Certainty in the market is important. Australian business, as well as the general public, should be part of the conversation so they understand the benefits, the value and the long-term significance to the economy, the environment, policy and productivity," she said.

“Not only does greater energy efficiency make both economic and environmental sense, but it will help reduce the built environment’s – as well as any individual’s, family’s or company’s – exposure to any price on carbon."